U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has some "free advice" for Sarah Huckabee Sanders: "if you are losing tens of thousands of followers the moment Twitter starts taking down Neo-Nazis and violent insurrectionists, maybe don't advertise that!"
Huckabee Sanders, the former Trump White House press secretary who is planning a run to become Arkansas's next governor, took to the social media platform that just banned President Donald Trump to lament not Wednesday's domestic terrorist attack and attempted coup incited by her former boss and not the death of a Capitol police officer, but her loss of Twitter followers.
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Huckabee Sanders was responding to a tweet from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who attacked Twitter by suggesting it was intentionally removing massive numbers of followers from top Republicans, including himself, and intentionally increasing the number of followers to top Democrats to "create an echo chamber."
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It's not known if the numbers Pompeo posted are legitimate.
Twitter appears to have purged or expelled large numbers of far right wing extremists. NCRM Saturday night was first to report Rudy Giuliani lost 60 followers whose accounts were suspended or otherwise deleted – although he himself unfollowed 25 top Republicans including Vice President Mike Pence.
A genial conversation on MSNBC about Donald Trump losing his Twitter privileges turned into a shouting match by the end as Trump ghostwriter Tony Schwartz and former Trump adviser Sam Nunberg got into it over who was more culpable for building the president up.
Towards the end of the segment with host Alex Witt, Schwartz challenged Nunberg for still being proud of the work he did getting the president elected -- only to have Nunberg slam him for profiting off ghostwriting Trump's "Art of the Deal."
"I'm going to ask this of Tony, last question," Witt stated. "A friend in Palm Beach told me that the general sentiment there is that Donald Trump will be a nobody in five minutes and that he's embarrassed himself beyond repair, do you agree?"
"I can't help but answer on Sam," Schwartz exclaimed after trying to cut in on Nuberg moments before. "It is incredibly sad to me that a guy could have done what Trump's done, he has been a sociopath since the first day that Sam Nunberg met him and it's really sad to hear somebody say, 'I don't take any responsibility.'"
"I spent four years taking responsibility for the mistake I made 35 years ago," he continued as his voice began to rise. "Come on, Sam, you step up and get others like you to step up. It's time to say the truth about this man he is one of the worst human beings alive -- maybe the worst."
"The question was, do I regret helping him get elected president?" Nunberg snapped back as the two loudly talked over each other. "I don't regret the Supreme Court, I don't regret where Jerusalem stands today, and that's my position, Tony. If you don't like it, that's fine, Tony, give back all the money you made during the years when you needed it with 'Art of the Deal.'"
"I've given a quarter of million dollars of royalties from 'The Art of the Deal' back,'" the author shot back as Nunberg continued on.
"I find you interesting with what you said," Nunberg interjected. "My position is the following once again: he did a service to the forgotten men and women, the people that had no voice under a two-party system, and in the end, I am happy that he beat Hillary Clinton who is the most --."
"We so don't have time to get into Hillary Clinton. I'm sorry, " host Witt interceded after letting the two battle it out.
The PGA of America has hinted at plans to prevent President Donald Trump's National Bedminster golf club from holding the 2022 PGA Championship, NJ.com reported.
The organization made the move after the president incited a deadly riot on Capitol Hill.
According to Golfweek's Eamon Lynch, the PGA will officially strip Bedminster of the championship after Trump leaves office.
Lynch explains:
The odds that '22's PGA Championship will happen as scheduled in New Jersey are about as good as the chances of you or I winning it. Seth Waugh, the PGA of America's CEO, was a banker and has an alert eye for high-risk exposure. He knows that Trumpism is likely to be an equally incendiary force in the '22 midterm elections and that any affiliation is poisonous. Waugh will be forced to move the event and face down a small but vocal faction of his membership who remain true believers. Moving its major from Trump National has been debated internally at the PGA for more than two years, but executives have been reluctant to antagonize a famously vindictive man who controls the Internal Revenue Service. Such concerns melt away in 10 days, if not sooner.
But Lynch argues that golf's reputation has been hurt by the president.
“The game will instead be portrayed as Trump's refuge," he writes, "something he did while ignoring a pandemic that has claimed 365,000 lives, refusing to acknowledge a resounding electoral defeat, and inciting feeble-minded fascists to violence that left five people dead at the opposite end of Pennsylvania Avenue."
"...This is a breach of a binding contract and they have no right to terminate the agreement," the Trump Organization said in a statement. "As an organization we have invested many many millions of dollars in the 2022 PGA Championship."
According to a report in the Washington Post, both Republican members of Congress and voters who backed Donald Trump are starting to see the outgoing president as damaged goods after he incited a riot at the U.S. Capitol that led to five deaths and send lawmakers fleeing for their lives.
Under a headline reading, "As Trump leaves office weakened, Republicans wonder if his wounds are fatal," the Post reports that the Wednesday attack that appalled the country likely damaged any chance the president has of any future in politics with some two-time Trump voters wanting nothing to do with him now.
According to the Post's Phillip Rucker, "In the wake of the mob attack on the Capitol that Trump incited, some allies have abandoned him, many in the business community have shunned him and Twitter took away his social media megaphone. Many Republicans also hold him responsible for losing their Senate majority with last week's twin defeats in Georgia, not to mention their House majority two years ago."
In an interview, Republican strategist Scott Reed admitted that last 60 days of Trump's presidency have been nothing short of a disaster.
"The way he handled himself in the last 60 days has tarnished his reputation and his ability to be a future leader — and by botching the Georgia Senate races, his entire economic agenda is about to get overturned by the Senate," Reed explained. "He's really gone backwards like no one ever would have imagined."
While senior Trump advisor Jason Miller claimed, "President Trump is still the biggest name in American politics and the president is still the leader of the Republican Party. He'll be the most sought-after political endorsement heading into the 2022 midterms," longtime conservative pollster Frank Luntz vehemently disagreed.
Citing a focus group with Trump supporters he conducted the night after the attack that claimed five lives, Luntz stated that Trump voters fall into three categories described as: "those who believe the fact that President-elect Joe Biden won the election and think it's time Trump move on; those who think it was stolen from Trump but he still should move on; and those who think it was stolen and Trump should continue to fight."
Luntz said the fracturing of Trump's base "flabbergasted" him.
"They were very emotional with each other, very harsh with each other," Luntz reported. "This has never happened in a Trump focus group I've done. . . . Trump voters are like single moms with kids. They back each other, they empathize with each other, because they know the stresses and strains they each have. Not anymore. These Trump voters are ready to declare war with each other."
According to Luntz, this is very bad news for Trump if he plans to make another run for the presidency in 2024.
"When you've got a unified force, you can speak to them as their general and motivate them to change their behavior," he elaborated. "But when they have broken down into tribes, it's impossible to deliver a message that reaches everybody. Trump is much less powerful today than he was 72 hours ago."
According to a report from Politico's Sarah Ferris, the Capitol attending physician has warned lawmakers on both sides of the aisle that they need to be tested for COVID-19 after they were forced to go into hiding as a mob of far-right supporters of Donald Trump stormed the halls of Congress.
According to the memo, there is a possibility that they were exposed to the deadly coronavirus when they were penned up as Capitol police battled with the invaders after the president encouraged them to march on Congress.
The memo from Dr. Brian P. Monahan states, "During this time, individuals may have been exposed to another occupant with coronavirus infection."
You can see the memo below:
Capitol Physician warns that the large group of House members in lockdown together on Weds SHOULD get Covid tests.… https://t.co/sJTlpPP8IC
During an interview with CBS host Margaret Brennan on Sunday, Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) likened a riot incited by President Donald Trump to touching a "hot stove."
"Is the president a danger to the country?" Brennan asked Blunt.
"Well, I think the president and his actions on that day and leading up to this topic were clearly reckless," Blunt replied. "This was a tragic day for the country and the president had some involvement in that."
"Are Republican leaders going to hold him accountable in any way for it?" Brennan pressed.
"The president should be very careful over the next ten days," Blunt said. "Now my personal view is that the president touched the hot stove on Wednesday and is unlikely to touch it again."
"And if that's the case -- every day we get closer to the last day of his presidency," he continued. "We should be thinking more about the first day of the next presidency."
"You don't believe he has committed an impeachable offense?" Brennan wondered.
"That's not really the question," Blunt insisted.
"Well, that's my question," the CBS host quipped.
"Well, I'm giving you my answer," Blunt griped. "This is more of a longterm punishment of the president then trying to remove him from office. That's when the politics take over and protecting the government is left behind."
After trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) on Sunday argued that impeaching President Donald Trump for inciting a riot is "not healthy for the nation."
Jordan, who had officially objected to the results of the Electoral College, repeatedly insisted during a Fox News interview that now is the time to unify the country.
"What happened [with the riot] Wednesday is wrong, it's as wrong as wrong can be," Jordan said. "But I hope the Democrats don't go down this road [with impeachment], we don't know they're going to. Let's hope that they do not do that."
"Now the Democrats are going to try to remove the president from office just seven days before he's set to leave anyway," he continued. "I do not see how that unifies the country."
Jordan pleaded with President-elect Joe Biden to give a speech defending Trump.
"Let's bring the country together and move forward, and return to being this America, the greatest nation ever," he remarked. "That's where we need to focus."
"For the good of the country, I think it makes sense for Vice President Biden to do that," the Ohio Republican said. "I think [impeachment has] real constitutional problems but most importantly, it's not healthy for the nation."
Appearing on CNN's State of the Union" with host Jake Tapper, Gov. Larry Hogan (R-MD) didn't hesitate to agree with the host that Donald Trump has "blood on his hands" for the riot at the U.S. Capitol that took the life of Capitol police officer Brian Sicknick along with four others.
Hogan, who has been a rare consistent Republican critic of the president, was asked by the host about the assault on the U.S. Capitol building on Wednesday by far-right supporters of the president that horrified the nation.
In particular, he was asked about the death of Sicknick, who was reportedly beaten to death with a fire extinguisher.
'The president incited a domestic terrorist attack on the U.S. Capitol. Five people have died, including Capitol police officer Brian Sicknick," Tapper began. "Does President Trump have blood on his hands?"
"There is no question in my mind that he was -- he was responsible for inciting this riotous mob'" Hogan replied. "That this was an insurrection. You know, they stormed the Capitol, and threatened to kill the vice president and put the lives of people in danger. and he had a huge part, a huge role to play in that."
"And I think a lot of people don't understand how close this was to a mass casualty event with members of Congress and the vice president slaughtered," the CNN host prompted. "How worried are you about what might happen over the next ten days with President Trump remaining in office?"
"Well, I'm pretty worried, but we're taking action," Hogan replied. "You know, on the lead-in you were talking about us sending in the national guard. Within minutes of this attack I called a security team together, sent in several hundred specially-trained Maryland state police, a rapid response team, and I called up 500 members of the National Guard. We are having security briefings."
Longtime attorney Alan Dershowitz on Sunday hinted at a defense for President Donald Trump's riot incitement if he faces another impeachment trial in the Senate.
During an interview on Fox News, host Maria Bartiromo asked Dershowitz if he would defend the president at a second Senate trial.
"It will not go to trial," Dershowitz predicted. "All the Democrats can do is impeach the president in the House of Representatives. For that, all you need is a majority vote."
The attorney argued that the "case cannot come for trial in the Senate" because Trump will no longer be president.
"Congress has no power to impeach or try a private citizen, whether it be a private citizen named Donald Trump or named Barack Obama or anyone else," he opined.
Dershowitz said that he is "deeply" worried about the "impact of impeachment on the First Amendment."
"The Supreme Court basically said that what the president said on Wednesday -- as much as I disapprove of it and many people disapprove of it on its merits -- is protected by the First Amendment," he insisted. "It comes within core political speech. And to impeach a president for having exercised his First Amendment rights would be so dangerous to the Constitution."
"It would lie around like a loaded weapon, ready to be used by either party against the other party," Dershowitz said before referring to the deadly Capitol Hill riot as an "incident."
"Let us not let an incident that occurred on Wednesday destroy the Constitution of the United States," he added. "That is my goal, to protect the Constitution from overzealous advocates who want to weaponize it in the interests of temporary political gain."
CNN host Jake Tapper put Sen. Pat Toomey on the spot on Sunday morning by pointing out that he voted for Donald Trump for president six weeks ago and now wants the president to resign over his actions since election day.
"After Wednesday's attack you took to the Senate floor to denounce President Trump as a demagogue.," Tapper began. "We should note you voted for him in November for the second time of course, even after Charlottesville, even after he cleared Lafayette Square with force for a photo op, even after he embraced QAnon conspiracy theorists -- many who were in the crowd. I'm not saying you bear any responsibility for what happened on Wednesday, but do you regret not doing more to stop somebody you're now calling a demagogue, who has pretty much been a demagogue for his entire political career?"
"Jake, I don't think there is any doubt in anyone's mind, not in my mind, that the president's behavior after the election was wildly different than his behavior before, he descended into a level of madness and engaged in a level of activity that was just absolutely unthinkable and unforgivable," the defensive Toomey shot back.
"For four years he put out offensive and objectionable tweets, in fact dozens a day," Toomey continued. "I don't think my job was to be the editor of his Twitter feed although I was very often critical. You know, this raises the question of why did 75 million people vote for this man whose character flaws were always very apparent? 75 million Americans are not stupid, they are not evil. what we did was we looked at a choice that we had, between an evermore radicalized left-wing Democratic party and a man who is very, very flawed, but with whom we actually have very substantive success in the early parts of his administration with a record performing economy, with peace agreements in the Middle East, with restoring the strength of our military, and all kinds of judicial confirmations."
Fox News host Chris Wallace grilled former acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, who was serving as special envoy for Northern Ireland, for resigning only after President Donald Trump incited a deadly riot on Capitol Hill.
During an interview on Fox News Sunday, Wallace asked Mulvaney if he felt any responsibility for the insurrection.
"I feel a lot of emotions this week, I was shocked, I was angered, I was sad, I was embarrassed, I was frustrated," Mulvaney opined. "And I'm still trying to figure out what I could have done differently. I've been out of the White House for eight months."
"What I do know, Chris, is there are things that are different," he continued. "I've seen the president be presidential before and I know that he has the ability to do it. He did it every single day. I don't know what's different, if it's different about him now, if it's different about his advisers."
"Something is very different now than we saw than when I worked there," Mulvaney insisted.
Wallace, however, wasn't satisfied with the former official's answer.
"There are people who say he isn't different," Wallace said. "This is the Donald Trump you worked for."
The Fox News host then suggested that Mulvaney "didn't have the spine to tell the president no."
"It's not true," Mulvaney replied. "It's not good to surround yourself with yes men."
"You were one of the yes men," Wallace charged.
Mulvaney offered a defense: "It's easy now, Chris, for people who don't like the president, who never liked the president, who always thought the president was a monster, who wanted him to be that, people who saw him through the filter of the media, to say, 'Oh, look, we told you so, we knew it was always going to be like this.' But those of us who worked with him every single day knew that the exact opposite was true, knew that he was into the policy, he was excited about what we had done for the country."
"But again, Mick, a lot of people say it didn't change on Wednesday," Wallace observed before reminding Mulvaney that he had defended the president after he cut off aid to Ukraine in an effort to force the country to dig up dirt on then-presidential candidate Joe Biden.
"Why didn't you resign over that?" Wallace wondered. "Why not resign over what I know you don't think was a proper thing for the president to do, cutting off aid to Ukraine."
"No, no, no," Mulvaney objected. "That original impeachment -- and I didn't realize we were going to get into this today -- had absolutely nothing to do with anything that was actually wrong. It was the Democrats looking for an excuse and they found one line in a transcript."
Wallace pressed: "You were a top member of the administration when the president offered a defense of white supremacists in Charlottesville. You were a top member of the administration, not chief of staff, when the Trump administration separated parents coming across the border from their children. Why not resign over those?"
"These are policy differences," Mulvaney scoffed. "Things you think the country should look one way, we think it should look another. These are differences of style, the way the president speaks. Did he misspeak at Charlottesville? Yes. Should he have corrected it? Yes. Did he handle it poorly? Yes. But it was not something that people resign over."
"State of the Union" host Jake Tapper kicked off his show on Sunday by ripping into Donald Trump as a lover of the Capitol assault "terrorists," adding that Wednesday's violent attack on the halls of Congress will go down as a day of "infamy."
The CNN host got to it from the start.
"The state of our union is utterly devastated after one of the darkest days in our nation's history: a coup attempt, no longer bloodless, instigated by the president of the United States," he began. "The flags at the U.S. Capitol are at half staff this morning for the police officer, Brian Sicknick, who was murdered this week but they are not at half staff at the White House, perhaps because officer Sicknick was the enemy of the terrorist mob, and the mob loves Trump."
"The mob, by trying to intimidate, threaten, or even kill the vice president and members of Congress, who were counting the electoral votes -- that mob was, in turn, loved back by Trump," he continued. "According to [Nebraska Republican Senator] Ben Sasse, White House aides told him the president was quote 'delighted' watching the insurrection. In Trump's view, they were fighting for him. Trump put out a statement, 'we love you,' he said, after the attack, 'you are very special.'"
"It might be difficult to hear these words, it's difficult to say them because it's so ugly, but it's true," he continued. "The flag isn't down at the White House because the president is not mourning Sicknick. He hasn't personally decried the terrorists in any way because the president loves the terrorists and he reportedly has not even spoken to his own vice president, whose life was at risk since Wednesday. The images of this attack are so shocking that many of Trump's enablers are finally, with just a few days left in his presidency, beginning to get the goddamn point that his continuous lies and humoring of racists and winks and nods to violent extremists are dangerous."
Two Fox News hosts exchanged words on Sunday about whether President Donald Trump should be impeached for inciting a violent insurrection on Capitol Hill.
Fox News host Jedidiah Bila was the only supporter of impeachment during a panel discussion with conservative pundit Jason Chaffetz.
"I think that's different from calls from impeachment last time," Bila explained. "To me, this time the actions by the president are an impeachable offense. I don't see how you really see it another way."
At that point, co-host Pete Hegseth interrupted Bila.
"I can see it another way," Hegseth remarked, talking over his co-host. "There's a lot of people who see it another way."
"But go ahead, sorry," he added.
"Well, OK," Bila said. "So I see it as an impeachable offense, what he did. You know, basically inciting rioters to go and attempt to overturn what was a constitutional process."
"Given that reality of what people feel, what do you do if there is no consequence to that action?" she asked Chaffetz. "Because the reality is President Trump could run again. He is free to run again. I think he would have a lot of support if he did run again. But you don't want this behavior to occur again. So does it send the wrong message if you make your decisions on impeachment based on how Trump supporters may react or how people are inclined to riot may react?"
Chaffetz argued that Trump shouldn't be impeached again because "the people have spoken" by electing Joe Biden.
"I think it was reprehensible, I think it was absolutely wrong," Chaffetz opined. "I was terribly disappointed in the president but there is going to be a transition to power so the point being that it's going to happen on Jan. 20th and if you're going to start to collectively take a deep breath and move on with this country, I think this excercise, which really doesn't have enough time to play out anyway, it does not do things to actually move our country forward."
